Starting equipment at low temperatures can often cause damage due primarily to the decreased effectiveness of lubricants to suppress friction between moving parts. One machine component that can suffer from this problem is a lubricated bearing. Damage, such as burnishing, can be caused to lubricated bearings when equipment is started at low temperatures.
One solution to this problem has been to use low temperature lubricants, i.e., lubricants which exhibit an improved ability to decrease friction at low temperatures. Bearings are commonly lubricated by lubricants having a high viscosity, such as grease or "fat". Even low temperature greases do not sufficiently suppress friction at very low temperatures. This is especially true in very cold weather regions such as the Nordic countries, Canada, Northern USA, the Arctic and Antarctic regions, etc. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a way of further improving the ability of lubricants, such as grease, to suppress friction at low temperatures.